Butler grad Skidmore continually experiments for perfect blend
CALLERY — Tyler Skidmore figured his life was headed in a different direction.
The 2008 Butler graduate went on to earn a degree in psychology from the University of Pittsburgh, then a master's degree from West Virginia University. He moved to Texas with his wife because she got a teaching job there.
The couple wound up in North Carolina, where Skidmore worked in insurance.
Then, in Skidmore’s words, he received “a calling from God.
“I was destined to do this,” he said.
“This,” is running his own barbecue restaurant, which is Back Home BBQ & Brew, located off Mars-Evans City Road in Callery. His wife, Megan, is now a first-grade teacher in Hampton.
“This move was totally faith-based,” Skidmore said. “It’s hard to explain it. We were originally going to go back to Texas to start a restaurant, but then decided to go home and do it. That’s how the restaurant got its name.”
The restaurant will have been open for two years on June 8 — and Skidmore is taking the art of barbecue to a new level.
“I do 15 different sauces here,” he said. “We have three available all the time, and we do a sauce of the month, as well.”
Skidmore said he first learned to barbecue from his Uncle Dave. His uncle’s Texas style barbecue — which is tomato and vinegar based, with red pepper flakes lending some heat to it — is one of the three sauces offered at the restaurant all the time.
“It’s heat … but it’s not hot,” Skidmore said in terms of spicy. “It has a unique flavor.”
Unique flavors are what he searches for, whether they be on ribs, brisket, chicken or wings.
“I do research, watch videos, find different recipes, mix some together and see what happens,” he said. “The best way to come up with a good barbecue is to experiment. If it doesn’t taste good, maybe something’s missing.”
Another barbecue sauce Skidmore offers is Lonestar Shadow — a sweet and tangy, umami flavor, sweet in its finish. His other regular sauce is Yeller — a traditional Western Carolina sauce that is mustard based.
Skidmore’s sauce for the month of May is Alabama, which is mayonnaise based, with horseradish and dark brown mustard “to give it some zip.” The June sauce is Watermelon, a tomato-based sauce infused with watermelon.
“There’s such a wide variety of tastes in barbecue,” said Braden Skidmore, Tyler’s cousin, who works at the restaurant. “There’s sweet, sour, savory, bitter … it just depends on preference. Tyler works hard to create new things.”
Tyler Skidmore had a barbecue sauce place third in a competition at The Beacon’s WingFest last year, the lone competition he’s done thus far. He said he takes some of his food to about 15 festivals in Butler County each year.
Without a truck, he and his staff transport the food by car and open up a tent at various festivals.
“It’s a lot of work and preparation, starting with the night before,” Skidmore said. “We rub and smoke the meat overnight. We start thinking about what we want to do and what we’re going to take two weeks before a festival.
“Everything’s set up in the tent so we can slice the meat and make sandwiches to order. We have three or four people helping out in the tent. The best part of festivals is serving the customers and talking to them. We man a tent for several hours at a festival.
“When I see some of those faces eventually come into the restaurant … That’s very rewarding.”
Skidmore emphasized that he’s fortunate to have loyal employees who keep the restaurant in full operation while he’s manning a festival tent.
“I have no concerns that way and I’m grateful for it,” he said. “Competitions are OK and the festivals are fun, but when someone walks up to me and says that’s the best barbecue I’ve ever tasted … That’s what does it for me.”
